Accessible Travel Policy - February 2021 - Great Western Railway

Accessible Travel Policy
February 2021

Contents

Commitments to providing assistance .......................... 1
Sunflower Lanyard and Help Card scheme .................... 2
Booking and providing assistance .................................. 3
Station facilities and services ......................................... 11
Our Information screens and announcements .............. 16
Passenger journey information ...................................... 21
Ticket offices, Information points, Help Points and our
customer service centre ................................................ 24
Accessible standards for our website ............................ 26
Ticketing and Fares ........................................................ 28
If you don’t have a Railcard ............................................ 31
Alternative Transport ...................................................... 34
Wheelchairs and Mobility Scooters ............................... 37
Delays, Disruption to facilities and emergencies ........... 40
Station facilities ..............................................................45
Station Entrances .......................................................... 48
Redress and Compensation ...........................................49
Strategy and management ........................................... 51
Staff Training .................................................................. 62

1

Commitments to providing
assistance
Welcome to Great Western Railway (GWR). This policy
document is designed to complement our ‘Making Rail
Accessible: Helping Older and Disabled Passengers’
leaflet. A copy of this can be found at all GWR staffed
stations, as well as on our website at
GWR.com/PassengerAssist.
We want everyone who travels with us to have a safe and
enjoyable journey and this document gives you everything
you need to know about our Accessible Travel Policy for
elderly and disabled passengers. In this document you
will find details of:
•   our services and facilities
•   how you can use our services and facilities
•   what you can expect from us
•   what happens if we can’t give you the services or
    facilities you require
GWR is committed to continuous improvement of
services and facilities for disabled people. All our trains
have accessible facilities and many of our stations are
fully accessible. At those stations which are not yet fully
accessible we will continue to work with the Department
for Transport (DfT) and Network Rail to ensure we provide
this wherever possible.
Recent improvements have been to the step free walking
route between platforms at Truro, improvement of
wayfinding on the Severn Beach line, improvements to the
stairs at Bugle.

2

Sunflower Lanyard and
Help Card scheme
GWR participates in the Sunflower Lanyard and help
card scheme. This is a project that is designed to assist
customers with non-visible or hidden disabilities.
Wearing the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard or
showing people your sunflower help card discreetly
indicates to people around you including staff, colleagues
and health professionals that you may need additional
support, help or a little more time.
Supporting the Sunflower scheme is our way of showing
customers that we care about everyone that uses our
network and we want to make it as easy as possible for
them to travel with us. The lanyards and help cards are
available free of charge from many station ticket offices
or alternately by contacting our Passenger Assist team on
0800 197 1329, email Passenger.Assist@GWR.com or by
contacting GWR on social media.

3

Booking and providing
assistance
Passenger Assist is a national system used by all train
operating companies, which allows us to make the
necessary arrangements for your journey. If you have a
disability, non-visible disability or are elderly you can pre-
book assistance with just one call to our dedicated team.
We can make sure you get the help you need for your
journey and will arrange everything, including changes and
connections that involve other train companies. You just
need to let us know by 10pm on the day before your trip
and we will:

•   Help you find your nearest station with the best
    facilities for you
•   Help you plan the easiest route for your journey
•   Make sure our staff know you’re coming and what
    support you need
•   Give you all the help we can along the way – around
    the station and on the train
•   Ensure your destination is aware that you are travelling
    so that they can meet you on arrival

We can also give you advice about the trains and stations
you want to use, and how accessible they are. If they’re
not accessible for you, we’ll suggest some other options
to make your trip easier which might include getting you to

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or from a station that is more accessible, free of charge.

By April 2021 we will reduce this notice period to 6 hours
and then to only 2 hours’ notice by April 2022.

Our Passenger Assist team are available between 0600
and 2300 every day except Christmas Day. They can also
sell tickets and make seat reservations for your journey. To
contact them:

•   Call them free on 0800 197 1329
•   Text relay on 18001 0800 197 1329
•   Email Passenger.assist@GWR.com
•   Book through GWR.com/PassengerAssist

Once they have arranged everything, they will send you an
email confirmation of what has been booked.
If you can’t give us 24 hours’ notice of your journey, please
speak with a member of our station or train staff when
you arrive (or contact our Passenger Assist team) and
we will do our best to support you. However, we can’t
guarantee we’ll be able to give you the same level of help,
as our staff may not be freely available when you need
them and therefore assistance may take longer to be
provided. We will still do everything we can to assist you
onto the train and call ahead to your destination station
with your assistance needs.

5

When you arrive at the station
It’s best to arrive at the station in plenty of time for
your train so you can let our staff know if you need any
support. If you’re travelling from London Paddington,
which is managed by Network Rail, you need to go to the
Customer Reception at the concourse end of Platform 1.
The staff will tell the station team you have arrived and
call the station at your destination, so the team there
can meet you. When a train arrives at a GWR terminating
station, we aim to meet you as soon as practical and
within five minutes of the train’s arrival time. This
assistance may be provided by GWR station colleagues,
other train operating staff or from our onboard staff.
Where assistance is to be provided by our station-based
staff, in order to ensure that you will be met by a member
of staff at your destination, we provide each station with
a dedicated telephone number and a member of staff
who is responsible for receiving calls. In conjunction
with all other train operators we will be participating in
the ORR handover protocol and we are working with
the Rail Delivery Group on new initiatives to ensure the
reliability and robustness of our service for assisted travel
customers.

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               Meeting point
We have designated meeting points at all our staffed
stations. These are for customers who have booked
assistance to know where to meet our staff and
information on their location can be found at
GWR.com/stations and the national rail website.
We would advise that you turn up to the station
30 minutes before travel.

7

Ramps
We can help customers who use a wheelchair or mobility
scooter on and off the train with a portable ramp, specially
designed and tested for the purpose. Most of our trains
have ramps on board and we also provide ramps on the
platforms at the staffed stations they stop at.
Our station staff and train crew are trained to use the
ramps safely and support you on and off the train. If you
need a ramp and have pre-booked assistance, our staff
will be ready to help you board. If you haven’t booked
assistance, please let station staff know that you need a
ramp as soon as you arrive, and they will ensure you get
on your train safely.
At some of our larger accessible staffed stations we can
provide a wheelchair to help you as far as the train. For
safety reasons, they cannot lift anyone into or out of a
wheelchair, up steps or into a train seat.

8

Assistance at part-staffed and unstaffed stations
We’re happy to support you from any of our stations
but some do not have staff available and others are not
accessible.
We recommend you call our Passenger Assist team before
you travel. They will talk you through your journey options
and find out what support you need. They can also arrange
for you to get to and from a station that is inaccessible, at
no extra cost.
When booking your assistance, our Passenger Assist team
will discuss with you how we will meet your needs. If our
team believes there is any risk of you not being provided
with sufficient assistance at a particular station or stage of
your journey, they will provide an alternative journey plan,
assistance or transport to get you to your destination.
If you need help when you get to an unstaffed station, you
can either call our Passenger Assist team, whose phone
number is on the welcome board at the station or press
the information button on the platform Help Point and
you’ll be able to speak to someone who can help
GWR has introducing dedicated mobile staff on our
driver only routes in the Thames Valley. This is to provide
assistance to passengers where there is no second
person on board the train. They will be focused around
our accessible stations on the route, that are otherwise
unstaffed or staffed only during busier times of day. We
would recommend booking assistance in advance through
our Passenger Assist team who will be able to let you
know what to expect.

9

Journeys with connections
If you need to change trains on your journey, we can help
you at staffed stations. If there are no staff at the station,
you’ll need to book some support with our Passenger
Assist team.
If your journey involves changes or connections with other
operators’ services, our team will provide a single point of
contact for booking and arranging assistance. We aim to
provide enough time during your journey so that you can
make your connections.
Sometimes the arrival or departure platform for a train can
be changed at short notice. When this happens, our staff
will let you know and help you get to the new platform
as quickly and safely as possible. We will also update
aural and visual information at our stations, as quickly as
possible, to help inform all passengers of any change.

If you continue your journey on other transport
We will provide assistance from when you arrive at the
station to when you leave it. We can also point you in the
right direction for other accessible transport – like buses or
taxis – to continue your journey away from the station and
make it as easy as we can for you. For example, we:
•   Make sure the taxi rank and bus stops are clearly
    signposted around our stations
•   Put up information about local taxis and buses –
    including accessible ones

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•    Have pick-up and drop-off points outside many stations
     (some with dropped kerbs) as near to the entrances
     and exits as possible
•    Work with bus companies and local authorities to
     make sure there’s step-free access between buses
     and trains, wherever possible
•    Work closely with local authorities and taxi
     associations to provide, where possible, accessible
     taxis at ranks managed by GWR. Where accessible
     taxis are not locally available from the taxi rank we
     would source a vehicle from further afield via our taxi
     management supplier contract
•    Where access by Private Hire Vehicles to stations is
     regulated under contract with GWR, the terms of the
     contract will include, from the earliest opportunity,
     the requirement for the taxi operator to provide
     wheelchair-accessible vehicles and a reasonable
     number of drivers trained in disability awareness.

11

Station facilities and services
We work with other train companies to make sure the
national database, which keeps information about how
accessible UK stations are, is correct. You can find the
database at: nationalrail.co.uk/stations
GWR have recently undertaken an audit of all stations to
confirm and improve the information on the National Rail
database to ensure accurate and consistent wording with
the following fields populated for each of our stations;
•   Step free access note
•   Passenger Assist
•   Staff help available
Our Mobility & Inclusion team will make sure the
information about our stations is kept up to date. One
of the ways they do this is by contacting National Rail
with the details of any short-term or unplanned changes
that could affect a customer’s journey. They update this
information within 24 hours of being notified of any
changes. Information they pass on includes details of:
•   Significant, temporary work that will affect a station’s
    accessibility
•   Any problems at stations that make them temporarily
    inaccessible – like lifts and toilets being out of order.

12

Alterations to facilities
Should the facilities on which you rely for your journey
become temporarily unavailable on a train or at a station.
We’ll make sure the information is on:
•    GWR.com
•    Customer Information Screens
•    National Rail Enquiries website
If we have your contact details and you have booked
assistance, we will endeavor to contact you by telephone
or email, this includes:
•    Where a station has a physical constraint preventing
     use by some disabled people
•    Where significant temporary works affects station
     accessibility
•    Where changes to stations make them temporarily
     inaccessible (e.g. lifts or station toilets out of order)
•    Where changes to train facilities materially affect
     disabled passengers –– where reasonably practicable
     to do so.

13

Assistance with luggage
If you’ve booked some support for your journey, we
can help you around the station with any luggage
you have. However, we do not employ staff solely to
carry customers’ luggage and if you have not booked
assistance, platform staff may have to attend to train
safety before they can help you. Please bear in mind the
weight, size and quantity of luggage and do not exceed
the limits in the National Rail Conditions of Travel luggage
policy.
Our staff must be able to lift the item(s) safely so please
bring with you up to two large items (no heavier than
23kg) and one small item.

Seats on trains
When you book with our Passenger Assist team, it’s a
good idea to book seats or the wheelchair space on the
train at the same time. All of our trains have priority seats
at the end of each coach, they are near the doors and
most can be booked in advance. Wheelchair spaces are
available on trains, and our on-board staff will assist in
ensuring these dedicated spaces give wheelchair users
priority.
If you don’t book ahead, there are some non-reservable
priority seats and wheelchair spaces you can use. This
is on a first come first served basis and our staff will do
everything they can to make sure you get a seat or a
space for your wheelchair, whether you’ve booked or not.

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If someone else is using the seat or space you booked, let
our staff know. They’ll make sure you get your seat, or a
different one, so you can carry on your journey as planned.
We aim to ensure that disabled customers travelling in
family groups or with companions, are booked to sit close
together, wherever practicable. On trains that are not
reservable, staff on the train or at the station will assist
you in finding suitable seats.

Priority Seat Cards
There are clearly labelled priority seats on all our trains,
usually near the doors.
We always ask our customers to give up priority seats for
people who need them more but it’s not always obvious
why someone needs a seat.
If you’re disabled, pregnant, 65 or over, or travelling with
a child under 3 and you need to sit down when you travel,
you are eligible for a Priority Seat Card. That way, when
you ask someone for their seat, you can show your card
without having to explain anything.
To check if you can get a card, call our Passenger Assist
team on 0800 197 1329 or go to GWR.com

15

Assistance Dogs
We’re more than happy to welcome you, and your
registered ADUK guide or assistance dog on all our trains,
including on our Night Riviera service where your dog can
stay in the berth with you for no extra cost. If you book
assistance through our Passenger Assist team, they will
reserve the seat next to you in seated accommodation,
wherever possible, to ensure adequate space for your
assistance dog to travel.

16

Our information screens and
announcements
We know how important it is for you to have plenty
of information when you travel by train, both before
and during your journey. It is our aim to provide you
with information that is accessible, accurate, relevant,
consistent, up-to-date and easy to understand.

Information about accessibility
You can get up-to-date details of all the accessibility
services and facilities we offer:
•    At GWR.com
•    On the National Rail Enquiries’ journey planner,
     Stations Made Easy, at Nationalrail.co.uk/stations
•    By calling us on 03457 000 125*
•    Or text relay on 18001 0800 197 1329
•    At our booking offices
* Standard network charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher

Information about your journey
You can get the latest Information about train times,
including delays and planned improvement work:
•    At GWR.com
•    On our Facebook page, Facebook.com/GWRUK

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•   On our Twitter account, @GWRHelp
•   By calling our Passenger Assist team on
    0800 197 1329
•   By calling National Rail Enquiries on 03457 48 49 50*
    or textphone 0345 60 50 600*
•   By calling National Rail Enquiries’ Welsh language
    service on 0345 60 40 500*
•   Or text relay on 18001 0800 197 1329
•   Using the Train TrackerTM text service – text ‘dep’ then
    the station you need to 84950 to get real-time
    information (texts cost 25p plus your normal network
    rate)
•   By calling the Train TrackerTM speech recognition
    system on 03457 48 49 50*, which will tell you the
    latest train times
*Standard network charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher.

Clear information
We know how important it is for our customers to have
the information they need for their journey and we can
provide information in a variety of ways to suit the needs
of all our customers, including those with a disability.
Our booking offices and customer information points are
the easiest places for customers with a disability to get
the information they need. Many of these are equipped
with induction loops and some booking offices have low-

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level counters. The staff here can give you details about
the facilities, services and level of accessibility at all
railway stations in the UK and answer any questions about
your journey – including about train times and connections.

Accessible Travel Policy documentation including
alternative formats
To accompany this Accessible Travel Policy, we have a
shorter and more concise leaflet available, which you
might find helpful. The leaflet is called ‘Making Rail
Accessible: Helping Older and Disabled Passengers’. You
can find the leaflets in our ticket offices and leaflet racks
at GWR staffed stations, and as a PDF on our website at
GWR.com/PassengerAssist. Our website is accessible
using screen readers or other software with accessibility
features.

Leaflets and other printed materials
We display our printed information clearly at our stations,
and make sure the display is accessible for people in
a wheelchair. If you can’t find what you need, please
let one of our team know and they will do their best to
provide what you need. If you need a copy, documents
are available on line at GWR.com, from all our staffed
stations, or from our Passenger Assist team.
If you need them in a different format, please let us know.
We have copies in a few different formats, including audio,
large print, Welsh & braille and can send them out to you
within 7 days.

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Here’s how to get in touch with our Passenger Assist
team:
•   Call them free on 0800 197 1329
•   Dial text relay free on 18001 0800 197 1329
•   Email Passenger.assist@GWR.com or
•   Go to GWR.com
Our Mobility and Inclusion Manager represents us at the
quarterly Rail Delivery Group Disability Group meetings
and is actively involved with many of the associated
working groups.
They work with local charities and local access groups to
ensure that disabled people are aware of our Accessible
Travel Policy and the service that is available to support
customers wishing to travel by rail.
They also meet with representatives of local authorities,
and many other groups with links to transport and
disabilities.

Stations and rolling stock accessibility information
We ensure that accessibility information relating to our
stations and trains is readily available to you and kept up-
to-date. In order to achieve this, we maintain information
in an online format which can be easily accessed via
personal mobile devices, as well as in accessible formats.
We provide the same information to National Rail
Enquiries for their website.

20

Stations
Information about the accessible services and facilities that
are available at our stations can be found on our website, at
GWR.com/stations and on request. This will include details
about; disabled parking, staffing hours, accessible toilet
provision and accessibility of the station and platforms.

Trains
You can find a brief description of what facilities our
trains have, and the routes they generally take, in our
rolling stock information booklet that can be found on our
website GWR.com/PassengerAssist and on request.
This includes our Night Riviera sleeper train, which has an
accessible sleeping berth.

21

Passenger journey information
(Online, at stations and
on trains)
We know that some passengers don’t travel frequently,
and may not know where or how to access important
information, particularly during times of service disruption.
This section explains how we will communicate accurate,
clear and consistent information, especially if you have a
hidden disability.

Train departures and arrivals information
We commit to providing you, wherever possible, with clear
and consistent aural and visual information: both at the
platform and on the train.

Stations – aural and visual information
Many of our stations have a combination of customer
information screens and automated public announcements
providing accurate, clear and consistent aural and visual
information. We give up-to-date information about trains,
delays and other disruption on our information screens
and with announcements as often as we can. Should
the facilities on which you rely for your journey become
temporarily unavailable on a train, for example the
accessible toilet, we will make sure the information is on
our Customer Information Screens and that both station
and on-board staff are aware. Our staff will then be able

22

to discuss with you and provide alternate travel options as
required.

If you have trouble reading our information screens or
hearing our announcements, please let a member of staff
know. They can tell you if you need to be on a different
platform and help you get there safely if you need some
support.

Trains – aural and visual information
We are committed to providing important aural and visual
travel information in a variety of means so that it can be
accessed as easily as possible. Our on-board staff are
trained to give announcements and all of our trains provide
automated information throughout the journey. If your
disability means that you are unable to hear the on-board
announcements, please advise a member of staff so that
alternative arrangements can be made.
All our trains have a PA system for the train crew to
give updates during the journey and all our trains also
have scrolling passenger information screens, as well
as automated announcements (except our Night Rivera
sleeper service). You can find out more information about
our trains in the rolling stock information booklet found at
GWR.com/PassengerAssist
During all the journeys on our trains, our announcements
let customers know what the next station is. We make
these announcements in plenty of time for customers with
a disability to get ready to leave the train safely.

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Our train crew, or the drivers on ‘driver only’ trains, give
customers the latest information about delays or other
disruptions. The crew can help customers make other
arrangements if they need to and for ‘driver only’ trains,
the staff at the station will help instead.

Our help points
We’ve fitted accessible help points on the platforms of all
our stations. Each one gives the latest information about
train times and can be used for emergency calls or to get
information about the station or the train service.
All our help points feature audio frequency induction loops
for our customers with hearing difficulties and feature
buttons of different sizes and colour’s for customers who
are blind or partially sighted.

Connections and wayfinding
Our staff will provide you with information on how to
make connections with other modes of transport both
prior to your journey and when travelling on our trains and
through our stations. We also provide onward connection
information and local maps on posters at many of our
stations. When planning our services, we consult with all
local authorities that our services run to, through or near.
This is so we make sure the needs of local communities
inform any decisions we make concerning service
provision.

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Ticket offices, information
points, help points and our
customer service centre
You can obtain information about the services provided
by GWR and all other train companies at our ticket
offices or clearly signed information points at some of
our larger stations (usually open at the same time as the
ticket office). We will provide details of fares, timetables,
connections and confirmation of bookings made by
Passenger Assist (including bookings by other train
operators).
Information regarding other forms of transport from the
station is available from our staff, or they will be able
to advise you where this information can be obtained.
Further detail of the information facilities available at our
stations can be found on our website GWR.com/stations.
We will ensure that up-to-date information regarding the
services we provide is available to other train companies
and station operators. This includes information regarding
delays, diversions or other events that may affect your
journey. For up to date train running information on the day
of travel please follow us on Twitter @GWRHelp or visit
our website: GWR.com
Leaflets regarding our services and those of other train
operators who serve the station, are also available and
placed at varying heights to be accessible to you. We also

25

provide information on station posters which give you
information about local services/transport available from
that station. You can also use the station Help Points to
speak to an operator to gain information and assistance
from staff.
More information regarding all national train services is
available by contacting National Rail Enquiries. You can call
them on 03457 48 49 50* and their website can be found
here: nationalrail.co.uk.
Alternatively, TextDirect: 0345 60 50 600*
* Standard network charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher

26

Accessibility standards for
our website
We are committed to working towards achieving the
industry-recognised WCAG standards but until we do we
know that our website needs to be easy for everyone to
use, including those with a disability. We use the web
content accessibility guidelines to help achieve that
standard wherever possible. Our website includes many
features that help to make it accessible such as colour
considerations and easily resizable fonts. We meet the
requirements of the Equality Act 2010 when it comes to
providing services online. You can find out more about this
at Gov.uk/guidance/accessibility-requirements-for-
public-sector-websites-and-apps
We’re always looking for ways to improve our website
and we’ll continue to follow these accessibility
guidelines where possible, which includes the use of an
independent site audit to check compliance and highlight
recommendations for improvement.

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Accessibility features on our website
To improve navigation for text-only browsers, people who
use screen readers and keyboard navigation, we use:
•   Style sheets
•   Font sizes and colours
•   Forms, tables and links
•   Scripting and browsers

Questions or feedback about our website
We are always open to receiving feedback about our
website, and any suggestions you have for improvements
when it comes to accessibility. If you’d like to give us
feedback, or ask a question, here’s how to get in touch
with our Passenger Assist team:
•   Call them free on 0800 197 1329
•   Dial text relay free on 18001 0800 197 1329
•   Email Passenger.assist@GWR.com or
•   Go to GWR.com

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Ticketing and fares
Booking your tickets with our Passenger Assist team
If you book some support with our Passenger Assist team,
they can also book your tickets for you. You will be able to
collect your tickets from the station, or if you are planning
your journey in advance then we can send them to you in
the post.
We are committed to selling tickets impartially and to
providing accurate information and advice about your
journey and ticket options, irrespective of which train
operating company provides the service. Our ticket office
staff and Passenger Assist team are familiar with the
accessibility of our various types of rolling stock, and they
are trained to ensure that the tickets you purchase will be
appropriate for your journey. We are exploring options with
the providers for our Ticket Vending Machines to improve
information and where this is not possible will be placing
labels on the machines to make customers aware of the
need to ensure that tickets purchased will be appropriate
for a journey. Our web site provides similar information for
ticket sales.
You’ll be able to pick your tickets up from a machine or
a ticket office at the station two hours after you book
them. If you do, you’ll need the card you paid with and the
booking reference.

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Buying your own tickets
You can also buy your tickets from:
•   our station ticket offices
•   our self-service ticket machines
•   GWR.com
•   other train operators and their ticket offices
•   on the GWR app
If due to your disability you cant buy a ticket before you
board, you’ll be able to buy one (with any discount you’re
entitled to) on the train or at your destination, without
penalty.

If you have a Disabled Persons Railcard
If you have a Disabled Persons Railcard, we’ll give you a
discount when you buy your tickets online or at the ticket
machine. One adult accompanying you can also travel at
the reduced fare. At the ticket office, you just need to
show your railcard when you buy them. You also need to
carry your railcard when you travel, so our ticket inspectors
can make sure you have the right tickets.
Full details on how to get a railcard can be found on:
•   Website: Disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk
•   Email: Disability@raildeliverygroup.com
•   Call: 0345 605 0525*

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•    Minicom/Textphone: 0345 601 0132* (for people with
     hearing impairments)
* Standard network charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher

For more details on the discount and how to get a railcard,
go to Disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk

If you have a Senior Railcard
If you’re aged 60 or over, you can get a Senior Railcard.
This gives you a third off standard and first-class tickets
across the UK. You can buy it online, on the phone or at
any staffed station with your passport or UK driving licence
as proof of age. You can find out more:
•    at your local ticket office
•    from National Rail Enquiries on 03457 48 49 50*
•    at Senior-railcard.co.uk
•    Email: Railcardhelp@railcards-online.co.uk
* Standard network charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher

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If you don’t have a Railcard
If you are visually-impaired
If you are a visually-impaired person travelling with a
companion and you do not hold a railcard, the following
discounts on Anytime/Day tickets apply for both of you:
•   First / Standard Anytime Single or Return – 34% off
•   First / Standard Anytime Day Single – 34% off
•   First / Standard Anytime Day Return – 50% off
No concession applies if you are travelling alone and you
do not hold a railcard.
To obtain these discounts, a document confirming your
disability, issued by a recognised institution (for example,
Social Services Department, Local Authority, Guide Dog
Ownership certificate, Royal National Institute of Blind
People (RNIB) or Blind Veterans UK is required.
Season tickets – you can be issued with one adult season
ticket to cover two persons; the two travelling for the
price of one. A different companion may travel with you on
different days.

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If you remain in your wheelchair for a rail journey
If you remain in your wheelchair throughout the journey
and you do not hold a railcard, you will be given the
following discounts on Anytime/Day tickets:
•    First / Standard Anytime Single or Return – 34% off
•    First / Standard Anytime Day Single – 34% off
•    First / Standard Anytime Return – 50% off
The same discount will apply to one person travelling with
you.

Ticket machines
We’ve fitted self service ticket machines at many of our
stations over the last few years. All of them are designed
to comply with the Department for Transport’s ‘Accessible
train station design for disabled people: a code of practice’
and they all give a discount for people with the Disabled
Persons Railcard, and their companion.
Some stations also have ‘ticket collection only’ machines
to allow tickets bought in advance online or over the
telephone to be easily collected.

Ticket gates
Some of our stations have automatic ticket gates. This
means you need a valid ticket to get on to the platforms.
There’s always at least one wider, manual gate for people
in a wheelchair and people with reduced mobility. There

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will always be a member of staff to help you when the
gate is closed. Otherwise, the gate will be open so you
can get through.

Purchase of advance tickets
Where advance tickets are available for purchase (via any
of the available channels, including online, at the ticket
office or via telecommunications), you are advised to check
that the required facilities (for example; accessibility of the
train type, availability of wheelchair space or First Class
accommodation) are available before purchasing tickets.

Booking assistance when purchasing tickets
When buying tickets through our Passenger Assist team
with a Disabled Persons Railcard, our staff are trained to
ask you if you require assistance with any aspect of your
journey. They will be able to arrange assistance and tickets
as part of the same transaction.

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Alternative transport
Arranging replacement transport
Some of our stations may not be fully accessible to you,
due to constraints of the location. We are always happy to
arrange other transport for you if you are unable to use the
station to make the journey you wish.
You can check the accessibility of your local station
through GWR.com/stations
If your local station or the station you need to get to is
not accessible you just need to let us know by 10pm on
the day before you travel. Our passenger assist team will
talk you through your journey options and find out what
support you need. We aim to ensure that you are able to
make as much of your journey by rail as possible. However,
for those parts of the journey where this is not possible,
we will arrange alternative transport that is accessible to
you, to the nearest or most convenient accessible station.
Sometimes, if the platform you need isn’t accessible, we
may ask you to go to the next accessible station, then
come back to your destination station to a more accessible
platform. We only do this if there are frequent trains to
your station, and we never charge you more.

If we run a replacement bus service
If a bus service is required to replace a particular train,
GWR will provide accessible options wherever possible,
and only use vehicles that are a not fully accessible when

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all other options have been exhausted.
Twelve weeks before major planned engineering works
we take appropriate steps to assess the requirement for
accessible transport and alternative accessible vehicles for
use as substitute transport and where necessary, procure
the use of such vehicles.
In the event that a customer’s accessibility requirements
are not met by the provisioned rail replacement service,
GWR will arrange an accessible taxi for them instead.

Arranging a taxi
If you’ve booked with Passenger Assist, and your train or
replacement bus is inaccessible to you, we can organise
an accessible taxi free of charge. We can book these from
a range of firms and we will make sure the staff at the
station you’re going to know you’re coming in a taxi, so
they are expecting you when you arrive.
If you haven’t booked assistance in advance, let us know
as soon as you arrive and our staff will book one for you,
but we can’t guarantee there will be one available right
away.

Giving you the transport and information, you need
If we need to run replacement transport, we always work
hard to give you clear information through, information
screens, signs and announcements. We also always make
sure staff are available to answer questions and help you
on your journey.

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We understand that a disruption to our services or facilities
can have a big impact on customers with a disability. If
there are any problems, we do everything we can to keep
the impact to a minimum, and make sure you can get to
where you need to be.
If you need information during your journey, our social
media team can help. You can contact them on twitter @
GWRHelp or via WhatsApp on 07890 608043 between
0700 - 2300.

If trains are cancelled or delayed
In cases of delay, disruptions and emergencies, we
will ensure that the rail replacement services and taxis
provided are accessible wherever possible.

Disability awareness for Alternative Transport Providers
Taxi Providers
All our contracted taxi drivers are given disability
awareness training to ensure that they understand the
needs of disabled customers and how best they can
provide assistance.

Bus/Coach Operators
From 1st April 2021, and where reasonably practicable,
we will require all contracted accessible bus and coach
drivers to receive disability awareness training as part
of the driver’s initial training and/or ongoing within their
Certificate of Professional Competence training cycle.

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Wheelchairs and mobility
scooters
If you use a wheelchair or a mobility scooter, we’re happy
for you to travel with it on our trains. However, there are a
few things you need to know.

Wheelchairs
All of our trains take manual or powered wheelchairs that:
•   Are no more than 700mm wide
•   Are no more than 1200mm long (including the
    footplate)
•   Weigh 300kg or less (including the weight of the
    customer)

On the platform
When you’re using a wheelchair on the platform, please
do not exceed speeds of 4mph. Also, please stay behind
the yellow line until it’s time to board and secure the
wheelchair brake when you don’t need to move.

On the train
Once you’re on board, you can use the wheelchair space.
If you can, you can also sit in a seat on the train so you can
travel more safely and comfortably.

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Mobility scooters
If you have a mobility scooter, we’re happy for you to bring
it with you, as long as you have a permit. We can take
most scooters that:
•    Are no more than 700mm wide
•    Are no more than 1200mm long
•    Weigh 300kg or less (including the weight of the
     customer)
•    Have an anti-tip device
You can find out more and apply for a permit by calling our
Passenger Assist team on 0800 197 1329 or go to
GWR.com/PassengerAssist
No GWR trains can safely carry mobility scooters outside
the limitations set out in this policy.

On the platform
When you’re using a scooter on the platform, please don’t
go over 4mph. Also, please stay behind the yellow line
until it’s time to board.
Please take any luggage off your scooter before the train
arrives, so it won’t affect the balance if you use the ramp.
Our staff can help you take the luggage on to the train.

On the train
Once you’ve got your scooter on board and safely stored,
please sit in a seat on the train if you can, so you can travel

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more safely. Please also follow any advice our staff give
you to make your journey safe and comfortable.

If you don’t have a permit
We can still take your mobility scooter if it can be folded
down – to no bigger than an average large suitcase –
because it can go in the luggage rack. Please see luggage
section for details of size and weight limits. If you need to
fold your scooter to get on the train, please fold it before
the train arrives so you’re ready to board.
If you need to fold your scooter and it would be easier
for you to use a wheelchair to get on the train, just let
us know. Most of our accessible staffed stations have a
wheelchair on the platform. We can arrange for a member
of staff to help you to the train if you need to use it.

Further points
Please also note that for safety reasons, members of
GWR staff are unable to lift or physically maneuver the
scooter. It is your responsibility to ensure that you can
control your scooter and that you can board and alight the
train safely. Although we can book assistance on other
train companies’ services, their scooter policies may
differ, including the requirements for scooter permits. We
can advise you of these requirements or provide contact
details for the relevant train company to ensure your
scooter is permitted. This should be done prior to making
your journey, if you intend to travel with another train
operating company.

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Delays, disruption to facilities
and emergencies
What we do when there’s disruption
We try to let our customers with a disability know in
advance about anything that could affect their journeys.
Wherever possible, we share information with local
groups and councils, as well as customers with a Disabled
Persons Railcard who have opted in for updates, in the
areas where travel will be affected.
If there’s an unexpected problem, we always try to let our
customers know as soon as we can, through:
•    GWR.com
• Our customer information screens, help points
andstation announcements
•    Our email, social media and text alerts
•    On the national rail enquires site

Disruption
Disruption to facilities and services can have a significant
impact on your level of confidence in travelling on the
railway. If you’ve booked some support through Passenger
Assist, we’ll let you know if anything is going to seriously
affect your journey as soon as we can. If we have your
contact details, we’ll be in touch to make different
arrangements if we need to.

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Our staff are trained to anticipate your needs, especially
if you have a non-visible disability. They will communicate
news of any service disruption and provision of alternative
transport to you via the Customer Information Systems or,
where possible, in person. On train staff will continually
monitor the train they are working on and will help assist
and advise passengers when disruption does occur.
We have Help Points at all our unstaffed stations, which
can connect you to someone who can help provide journey
information for you.
Sometimes a train’s departure platform must be changed,
often at short notice. Such a change will be shown on
the customer information screens and will be announced
aurally as soon as possible. When a change occurs, our
staff will provide assistance and information to help you
reach the revised departure platform, if accessible, as
efficiently as possible.
When disruption causes the cancellation or alteration
of train services, we will provide you with accessible
substitute transport. This will be done without additional
charge. Our rail replacement team has contractual
arrangements with bus and taxi operators across the
GWR network, including securing, wherever possible,
the provision of accessible vehicles. When train services
are replaced with buses, we will endeavor to secure
accessible buses from local operators. When this is not
possible, we will book a taxi that is accessible to you. Our
staff, supported by our rail replacement team, have the
authority to do all that is reasonably practicable to arrange

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suitable substitute services for you in such circumstances.
If you require any support or information during disruption,
we would advise speaking to staff. However, if they are
not available, you can get in contact with us through either:
•    Using the Help Points at each station
•    Twitter using @GWRHelp
•    WhatsApp on 07890 608043
•    Calling Passenger Assist team on 0800 197 1329

Disruption to our facilities
We work hard to make sure all of our accessible
information equipment works properly. If there’s ever a
problem, we fix the fault as soon as we can. We make
sure the information you need is available from our staff,
posters and the Passenger Assist team in the meantime.

If there’s an emergency
Keeping our customers safe is our priority. So, when it
comes to handling an emergency, we do everything we
can to give customers the support they need.
We display safety information in all our trains about what
to do in the rare event of an emergency. Our evacuation
guidelines are either in the areas by the doors, on the
coach walls or alongside the seats.

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Supporting people with a disability in an evacuation
Our emergency plans for our stations and trains include
information about how to support people with a disability
in an emergency. We train all our train crew on evacuation
procedures and our staff will supervise any action that
needs to be taken in the event of an emergency, either at
a station or on a train.
If there’s an emergency, the safest option is nearly always
for customers to stay on the train until our staff have fully
assessed the situation. If we need to evacuate the train,
the safest place to do it is at a station.
In order to minimise the risk of causing injury to you in an
evacuation, we will only evacuate wheelchair users during
an emergency if the situation is life threatening. Based on
the type of incident and the risks involved, we will move
you to a safer part of the train until arrangements can be
made to move the train to the nearest station. We will
endeavour to make sure that you are always accompanied.
If it becomes necessary to evacuate a train between
stations, we will work closely with the emergency services
to attend and provide assistance with the evacuation.

Providing guidelines in different formats
To make it easier for people with learning difficulties or
disabilities, and for people who don’t understand English,
we use pictures to make our guidelines as clear as
possible.
Our train crew can give out Braille versions of our safety

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leaflets to blind or partially sighted customers. At the
moment, we can’t provide Braille versions on our ‘driver
only’ services. But you can get a free copy from our
Passenger Assist team on 0800 197 1329 before you
travel

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Station facilities
Left luggage
We don’t have any facilities for storing luggage at any of
our stations.
If you’re using London Paddington, which is managed by
Network Rail, there’s a Left Luggage Office on Platform
12 with step-free access. It’s run by the Excess Baggage
Company and open 0700 to 2300, Monday to Sunday.

Blue Badge parking
We’ve set up a programme to make sure our station car
parks have a suitable number of designated parking bays
for customers with a disability.
If a car park has fewer bays than the number specified in
the Code of Practice, we report on the average weekly
usage of the bays in the car park and review this every six
months.
Whenever we find there’s a significantly larger demand
for more bays in a certain car park, we add more, and we
address any bays that currently don’t meet the dimensional
guidelines for wheelchair access, when renovating
carparks.
We locate these spaces in the most suitable place to
ensure you will have easy access to our stations. Usually
these spaces are located as close to the main station
entrance as possible. Spaces for Blue Badge holders are
marked with the International Symbol for Access on the
ground.

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Making sure the bays are used properly
If we find people without a current International Blue
Badge using a designated bay, they will get a Parking
Charge Notice or, in exceptional cases, we will prosecute
them under Railway Byelaw 14.

The Blue Badge scheme
Parking is free for all customers displaying a current
International Blue Badge at a GWR managed station. If
there aren’t enough designated Blue Badge parking bays,
customers with a disability can park in a non-designated
bay free of charge, as long as they display their current
International Blue Badge in their vehicle. At car parks that
are monitored by Automatic Number Plate Recognition
(ANPR) there may be additional procedures required, so
please see local signage.

Third party provided facilities
We’re always working hard to improve the accessibility of
station facilities provided by a third party. For example, we
work closely with local authorities and taxi associations
to provide, where possible, accessible taxis at the ranks
managed by GWR. We also encourage the owners of
shops or cafés at our stations to make them as accessible
as possible. While it is recognised that third-party service
providers have their own responsibilities under the Equality
Act, our sub-leases with our tenants contain a standard
clause that compels them to comply with all relevant
statutes to ensure that any services and facilities provided
by others at our stations are as accessible as possible.

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Replacement facilities
We will provide, wherever possible, reasonable
replacement facilities for you that are accessible when the
level of accessibility of facilities at a station is less than
that normally provided (e.g. toilets, shelters, as a result of
the breakdown, alteration or removal of facilities).

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Station entrances
Accessible entrances and exits

We work with Network Rail and the Department for
Transport to provide step-free access to our stations
where we can.
If we’re considering closing an entrance to one of our
stations, even temporarily because of things like building
work, we always consider the needs of disabled people
and where necessary would consult with Department for
Transport, Transport Focus and local access groups first.
We will also comply with the agreed code of practice with
regards to mandatory standards regarding unobstructed
progress during building works. If we do close an
entrance, we make sure there’s another clear way in and
out of the station.

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Redress and compensation:
Passenger Assist – what to do
if our assistance fails
All individual train operating companies have their own
recompense policies, which can be found within their own
Accessible Travel Policies. If you travel with GWR and your
booked assistance fails, you will be compensated. If GWR
fail to provide your booked assistance this will be 100% of
the cost of a single ticket, or 50% if a return ticket is held.
If another train company was responsible for the failure,
you can contact them directly, or we can liaise with them
on your behalf and provide you with a full explanation in
response, including why it happened and what mitigating
actions we intend to take as a result.
The compensation scheme set out above does not limit
or exclude your other legal rights to compensation under
the Consumer Rights Act 2015, or Equalities Act 2010. If
you believe this applies to your journey, please contact our
Customer Support team who will take each case on its
merits and respond appropriately.
You can contact our customer support team through
either:
• GWR.com and filling in our online form
• Calling 03457 000 125*
• Emailing GWR.Feedback@GWR.com

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• Write to us at Freepost GWR CUSTOMER SUPPORT
* Standard network charges apply. Calls from mobiles may
be higher
Where assistance has not been provided due to a delay,
and both Delay Repay and Assisted Travel redress could
apply, you will be entitled to whichever value is the highest
but will not be able to claim both.
For information regarding your rights when you are
travelling as a consumer, including under the Consumer
Rights Act 2015, see Gov.uk/consumer-protection-rights

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Strategy and management
Strategy
We know some of our older customers and customers
with disabilities need support when they travel. We want
to treat them fairly, and make sure all our trains and
stations are as accessible as they can be.
We have made a commitment to an ongoing programme
of improvement to accessibility for as long as we have the
franchise.
Whatever work we do, we do it with the Equality Act in
mind and ensure it’s in line with the standards set out
by the Department for Transport in ‘Design Standard for
Accessible Railway Stations’ (Code of Practice). We also
work with the standards from the European ‘Technical
Specification of Interoperability for Persons of Reduced
Mobility’ (PRM TSI). Whilst we will exhaust every possible
avenue, should we not be able to meet these standards on
stations, we will consult with the DfT at the earliest stage
in the design process so that suitable alternatives can be
considered, and dispensation sought from the Code of
Practice.
When the COVID-19 position allows, GWR will continue
to invest in improvement schemes during the current
franchise to improve the facilities for disabled customers.
GWR is committed to the continuous improvement of
services and facilities for disabled people. We believe that
when you travel with us you should expect high standards

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of service on your journey. We work alongside our
industry colleagues ORR, Network Rail, local authorities,
DfT, Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee
(DPTAC), Transport Focus, Community Rail Partnerships,
Rail Ombudsman and other stakeholder organisations,
especially those representing all customers, to further
improve the services, products, facilities and information
we provide. We believe that you have the right to safe,
comfortable, punctual and seamless journeys, and we
will work to broaden accessibility and equality on GWR
throughout the franchise.

Improving access and services on GWR
We will be improving access and services as follows:
•    New Passenger Assist app: We will support the Rail
     Delivery Group roll-out the national Passenger Assist
     app, which will enable you to book Passenger Assist
     journeys, letting our staff know you are coming.
•    Passenger Assist Survey: we will continue to conduct
     a monthly survey of our Passenger Assist service, to
     complement the ORR’s national survey of Passenger
     Assist users, to help us better understand your needs,
     and make improvements to our customers’ journeys.
•    Closer professional collaboration: GWR will work
     closely with our customers and stakeholders across
     the network to help improve the service further.
•   Greater station investment: we will continue to invest
    in accessibility features for our stations, until the end
of our current franchise.

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Management arrangements
Executive responsibility
We think about accessibility in everything we do. We make
it part of our business planning, and keep track of our
progress by measuring, reporting and adjusting to make
sure we’re meeting our accessibility goals. Here’s how we
do it.
Our Business Assurance Director is responsible for our
Accessible Travel Policy, and makes sure:
•   We review it every year
•   We include it in our business plans and at the planning
    stages of all our major projects
•   We consider what people with a disability need at
    every stage of our work
•   People with a disability are represented at board level
    and communications from the board can be cascaded,
    with the rest of the organisation, through the
    Managing Directors Monthly telephone conference
    calls and internal publications.
Our Engineering Director is responsible for making sure
that whenever we refurbish our trains, we do it in line
with:
•   Our Accessible Travel Policy
•   The standards set out in the Code of Practice
•   The Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations
•   The PRM TSI.